Hello, it’s Alex again – Alissa’s boyfriend. As you may remember from last week, we just moved cross-country. Now we’ve gotten a challenge from Apartment Guide, to host a Tailgating at Home party next week! This is no small task. We’ve gotten the apartment live-able, but frankly, it’s still a mess – we’ve only been here three weeks.
Regardless, Alissa and I will take the challenge! Apartment Guide will help me host the party (see Disclaimer below), and will also give away a $100 American Express gift card to one lucky reader who tells us about their apartment’s pre-party transformation.
What’s Apartment Guide? Aside from being the sponsor of this event, it’s an all-in-one website for apartment dwellers, both those seeking new digs and those getting comfortable. For example, if you’re looking for a new place, you can use their website or Facebook page to search listings. If you’re settling in, like Alissa and I are, they have tips on how to decorate your new apartment and, most apropos, how to host a football party for all your friends. Basically, as you can see from their site, Apartment Guide has a lot of great advice.
So here’s how we’ll set up the competition: As far as I see it, having a great party is a great way to get your apartment into shape. Because, especially after you move, who has time to go beyond “good enough”? And then good enough becomes “normal,” and normal becomes, well… I once slept on a futon mattress on the floor of my bedroom for three straight years, just because it worked for a while, beds are expensive, and who needs a proper bed? I’m trying not too fall into that trap this time, but so far, it’s got me. As you can see, here is my “nightstand.”
But how do you avoid this trap? Take up the challenge to have a housewarming party. For me, a born-and-raised Nebraskan who just moved back to the Midwest, it’s only natural that my party be a Tailgating at Home party at which we’ll be watching the Wisconsin/Nebraska NCAA Football Game and snacking on a batch of tailgate-friendly food.
So far, I’ve been using the Apartment Guide website for tips on how to arrange the space. For example, it doesn’t always take much to make a room. This is the “before” picture from my foyer. As you can see, it’s functional. Umbrellas in a trashcan, hats in a crate, and a box to hold the stuff up. It’s also ugly and cluttered.
However, with one small purchase – the chest – I was able to transform it into this: Everything else in the photo I already owned but had yet to unpack. The chest was selected so that it would hold a vase, as well as mail, and also so that it had plenty of containers into which I could put Alissa’s and my hats and gloves.
And now the foyer is ready for guests to arrive! Describe for us a similar transformation to enter our $100 giveaway competition: If you’ve just moved, or just had a party or both, describe in the comments section your most recent apartment transformation. For your entry to be valid, you must also like Apartment Guide on Facebook and follow them on Twitter. The randomly-selected winner will receive a $100 American Express Gift Card that can be used pretty much everywhere!
I know I’ll be using Apartment Guide for tips on decorating. Next week, I’ll share my own tips, post photos of our party in our fully moved-in, adult apartment. We’ll give you the next two weeks to enter the contest and we’ll announce the $100 giveaway winner on October 11!
It should be fun – go Huskers!
Oh, and PS — we’d love you to also like My First Apartment on Facebook.
Disclosure: Apartment Guide is owned by Consumer Source, Inc. Apartment Guide partnered with bloggers such as me to participate in its “Tailgating at Home”Blogger Challenge. As part of that program, I received compensation. They did not tell me what to purchase or what to say about the products used for the “Tailgating at Home”Blogger Challenge. Apartment Guide and Consumer Source believe that consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. Consumer Source’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations.
I love to have housewarming parties–it’s the only way I ever get my art on the walls! I had to rearrange our living and dining rooms for our last party–we had large square rooms that wasted a lot of space, so I moved the couch and tables around to create multiple seating areas!
I am hosting a bday party soon and need to get supplies and more seating.
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My bedroom needs transformed. I do not have enough places to put my clothes because I do not have a dresser. I only have a small metal closet type thing. I would love to get a dresser if I won this promotion.
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Fan of yours on fb Judy Sue
We are in the process of transforming my sons old bedroom into a computer room. I could use a nice bookshelf to accomplish this!
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I’ve recently furnished an efficiency at my house for rent to a gifted college student who is attending a nearby university. So after my baby sister moved away from our parent’s house to attend college, I’ve moved her sleigh bed frame in there and then shopped at a neighborhood moving sale and had gotten items such as an armoire that matches nicely with the bed and a dinette/work table. I’ve gotten a bed-in-a-bag set in green colors which I find that the color is calming and inspiring. I’ve also had a bold-colored printed set of bed sheets that I’ve never used and I transformed them into window treatments that I strategically placed behind the bed to make it pop! My tenant couldn’t believe her fortune and loves her space.
I’d say that no matter how long you’ve lived in a place, a party is always a great excuse to class the joint up. These days the only time our house looks really clean is the hours before a party. In addition to cleaning, we also pull out the fun candles, the wedding gift bowls, and the seasonal tchotchkes. The house looks completely different, and I love it.
One of my recent transformations was my bed room. I painted the walls an pretty ivory color (they were yellow before) and I place my photography from past travels with family in frames and hung them strategically. Looks more like home now! :)
I like apartment guide on fb as Dee G and follow apartment guide on twitter as @deegee13.
I find that good artwork can definitely transform an apartment. While I wanted to keep my apartment with bare walls originally for a clean look, the white just got too overwhelming. I chose artwork that was all handmade by myself or friends, including paintings, posters and even some sculptures. I picked up second hand frames at Goodwill and repainted/refinished them to custom match the artwork. It really makes the room come alive.
I was in the exact same position – I threw a party one week after moving to my first college apartment! The main transformation of my tiny apartment was making a beer pong table: I took my long, narrow coffee table and laid it on two end tables (one black, one bright green of course) and it was the perfect height! I also moved the couch and recliner to allow for easier movement from the living room to the kitchen, and set out a few coolers to be used as seats and/or somewhere to put drinks. I cleaned off my bed and desk, so people could set stuff there as well. Overall, it was a pretty effective transformation and allowed me to have an awesome party.
I can’t wait to read about the Tailgating at Home party so I can use some of the ideas for myself!
I follow Apartment Guide on Twitter (mami2jcn) and I like them on FB with my username Mary Happymommy.
I recently transformed our dining room into a playroom for the kids. I took out the large dining table and replaced it with a small folding table. I added a corner bookcase to store the kids’ books and boardgames and a couple of toyboxes to hold all of their assorted toys and stuffed animals.